Sound Off: Throwing money away

The following is what our readers sounded off about this week:

Stupid spending

I just saw on television that the U.S. Post Office sponsored Lance Armstrong to the tune of $31 million. Why, when the post office is [struggling] is our government throwing away money like this? How much more money would the government have if they stopped this stupid spending?

Random act of kindness

I would like to thank whoever it was with their random act of kindness. I got home from work, I live on 12th and Madison, and I found out someone had plowed my sidewalks from all the way around the corner. I wanted to say thank you so very much. God bless you.

Lincoln, Reagan are dead

GOP state Sen. Jim Oberweis and the other conservative GOP had better start visiting fast-food restaurants, because the workers behind the counters are the future voters that the GOP conservatives lost in the past election and will possibly also lose in the future. Now Oberweis is trying to disenfranchise the same-sex marriage political action committees. The states, not the federal government or religious organizations, determine who is issued marriage licenses. Judges can marry people in Illinois. Oberweis and the conservative GOP are against same-sex marriages based on religious teachings. Unless these political leaders start to realize that both Lincoln and Reagan are dead, the GOP could follow suit.

What a unique concept

It’s Friday, March 1, and today is supposed to be the day of the sequestration of the federal government, and maybe cutting some spending finally. I was driving around my local community and a couple of other communities, and I was in and out of stores and businesses and even a government building or two, and nobody seems worried about the federal sequestration. I wonder why. Then I remembered that we live in a town where people pay their own bills, where people work, where people get off their tails and take care of things. They don’t sit around and wait for the federal government to take care of them. What a unique concept.

What’s wrong with the picture?

On page 13 in the Feb. 23 and 24 Kane County Chronicle, there is a very nice article about Monsignor Joseph Linster being honored for his accomplishments by the St. Patrick School students. Included in this article is a small picture. However, Monsignor Linster is not in this picture. If someone is being honored, shouldn’t he be in the picture? So I’m flipping through the rest of the Chronicle, and I come to page 30. Yet again, another large picture of some guy who poses with sports people. Who cares? Why is this picture newsworthy? I would rather have seen a larger picture and article of the St. Patrick School story with Monsignor Linster included in the picture. So what’s wrong with this picture?

Thanks for plowing

I want to thank the St. Charles Park District for plowing Mt. St. Mary’s Park and the Riverwalk trail, the new trail. I’m very grateful to be able to use it this time of the year. A lot of us like to walk and run year-round. It’s a pleasure that we’re now able to use it in the winter months. It’s a beautiful park, and we’re able to walk through there along the river and on the new trail, also. I wanted to thank the park district.

Grateful for clear paths

Just calling to thank whoever is plowing the Fox River trail through Geneva into Batavia. It’s so nice to be able to walk that path this time of the year with the snowy weather. I’m just so grateful for whoever is taking care of that this winter. I’m able to use the trail year-round, and I’m grateful for that.

Hopelessness of that situation

I think a recent comment about minimum wage, saying people should just get a second job, is a little out there. First off, it is hard enough to try and get a first job, let alone a second job. Even if you somehow got a second job and were working 70 hours a week, which I think is about the maximum most people can stand long term, you would be bringing home a whopping $430 after Illinois tax, Social Security and Medicare, and that doesn’t even include federal withholding. This may seem like enough to live on, but what if you have a kid? The absolute cheapest I could find for day care around here is $200 a week. Hopefully, you don’t have two kids. Also, I don’t know who is watching your kid on the weekends since you’re at work. Seriously, if you can’t see the hopelessness of that situation and the need to offer people a way to pull themselves out of it, you are heartless. I can see offering up a different solution, but you can’t say do nothing. Of course, some people would want to cut off a theoretical single mom from welfare and food stamps, label her as taker and then wonder why her kid becomes a hoodlum or gets pregnant at 15 and continues the cycle.

It’s only common sense

I was reading on March 1 about the intersection in Geneva on Route 38 and Fourth Street, where the people got caught in the middle of the street. Instead of spending all the money on the fancy bricks on Third Street, why didn’t they put an underpass on one side for pedestrians to use? It’s only common sense. One of these days somebody will get killed there.

Prices are going to go up

I’m responding to “Pay people what they’re worth.” The prices are going to go up. They just may have an excuse. Gas prices are rising really high, and having people get paid $10 an hour is going to affect the small businesses because they won’t be able to have that many people on their payroll. Who in this day and age can live on $7.25 an hour? And they say to work two jobs. Well, how can you work two jobs if you have three kids at home to take care of? It works if you’re 20. But they’re going to raise the prices on everything anyway if it does go to $10 an hour.

• You can sound off, as well, by calling our Sound Off line at 630-845-5240 or by sending an e-mail to soundoff@kcchronicle.com. Calls must be limited to 1 minute or less.